Happy To Be Here

The My So-Called Life rewatch begins! Greta Johnsen and Kristin Meinzer discuss episodes 1 and 2 with Ronald Young, Jr. They talk about the nostalgic power of the series, how the pilot holds up as a pilot, and the extreme angst of it all. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In a very special miniseries, Greta joins forces with podcast host Kristen Meinzer to unpack every single episode of the 1994 ABC teen drama My So-Called Life. In this episode, before they begin their rewatch, Kristen and Greta discuss the cultural impact of the show with New Yorker TV critic Emily Nussbaum. Then, Greta talks to her best friend Marty, who binged the show with her when they were in high school. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Consider this episode a friendly nudge to stop giving everything 100% all the time. It's the 87% Club, and you're invited! Greta talks to two dear friends about perfectionism, trying too hard, and embracing rest. Guests are art activist and author Shannon Downey, aka Badass Cross Stitch, and Ellen Wessel, Greta's laziness accountability coach. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Book Riot’s Liberty Hardy and NPR’s Andrew Limbong share some of the books they’re most excited to read this year. (Here's the full list of books, along with about 20 others!)See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week, City Cast Chicago host Jacoby Cochran and pop culture writer Margaret H. Willison share their favorite news stories of the year. From real-life magicians to ficiton demon hunters, and museum detectives to Da Pope, there's plenty of good news to go around.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week, professional pastry chef Faith Fedash stops by host Greta Johnsen's kitchen to make pumpkin pie cookies. (Find the full recipe for the cookies here!)See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Welcome to Happy To Be Here, the show for the perpetually curious!See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

As y’all probably know, we’re calling this the “goodbye for now” episode of Nerdette because it’s our last episode while we’re employees at WBEZ. So, we thought it was the perfect time to call up Nerdette co-creator Tricia Bobeda and Nerdette Recaps co-host Peter Sagal to play our favorite game, Burden or Delight.Then, we hear from YOU about what Nerdette has meant to you for the past 11 years. We ultimately hope to find a new home for Nerdette! You can keep in touch with the team by joining our Facebook group, following Anna (@annabaumanation) and Greta (@gretamjohnsen) on Instagram, and subscribing to Greta’s newsletter. Thank you for 11 amazing years. We love you!See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

May’s Book Club selection is the fabulous short story collection ‘Table for Two’ by Amor Towles. It was amazing to get to talk to Amor in front of a LIVE audience in Chicago a few weeks ago. Since we were only able to share about half of that conversation in the podcast feed, we decided to bring you more from our chat and dive even deeper into the book!A programming note – this is our second to last episode as a production at WBEZ. We are ultimately looking for a new home for the show. But until we figure that out, we’ll have one more episode on Tuesday.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week, we ask voracious reader Liberty Hardy to rave about the best books coming out this summer. Liberty is the host of the Book Riot podcast ‘All the Books!’ She and Greta trade their top picks. Here are the titles in the order that they’re mentioned in the episode: ‘Fire Exit’ by Morgan Talty (6/3) ‘The Ministry of Time’ by Kaliane Bradley (5/7) ‘The Stardust Grail’ by Yume Kitasei (6/1) ‘Oye’ by Melissa Mogollon (5/14) ‘Margo's Got Money Troubles’ by Rufi Thorpe (6/11) ‘The God of the Woods’ by Liz Moore (7/2) ‘Bear’ by Julia Phillips (6/25) ‘Hum’ by Helen Phillips (8/6) ‘The Most’ by Jessica Anthony (7/30) See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.